The posting
Your Role
We are looking for a Commercial Finance Analyst for the French Grocery channel (GMS). Reporting to the Finance Manager France, you will act as the dedicated finance business partner for the Grocery sales team, providing robust performance analysis and actionable insights to support profitable and sustainable growth.
As the finance co-pilot for the Grocery channel, you will support commercial decision-making across customers, brands, categories, and product portfolios. You will contribute to budgets and forecasts, monitor sales and margin performance, challenge commercial investments, and help Key Account Managers identify risks and opportunities. Given the strategic importance of France and the Grocery channel, this role will have direct exposure to senior commercial and finance stakeholders.
Please submit your CV exclusively in English; applications in other languages will not be considered
What you will do
Strategic Business Partnering
● Act as a trusted finance business partner to the Grocery Sales Director and Key Account Managers, providing fact-based insights and constructive challenge to support commercial decisions and deliver channel objectives.
● Develop a strong understanding of Grocery channel performance drivers, including retailer dynamics, volume, price and mix, trade terms, promotional mechanics, distribution, market share, and customer profitability, and translate them into clear recommendations for the commercial team.
● Provide financial leadership for the Grocery channel by coordinating performance reviews, highlighting risks and opportunities, and ensuring that commercial action plans are supported by reliable financial analysis.
● Challenge customer plans and commercial assumptions, assess the financial impact of pricing, promotions, trade terms, assortment changes, and product launches, and recommend actions that improve Net Sales, gross margin, and return on investment.
Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
● Coordinate the Grocery channel inputs for the annual budget, long-range plan, and rolling forecasts, working closely with Sales, Demand Planning, and the Finance Manager France. Prepare scenarios and sensitivity analyses to support decision-making and ensure alignment between commercial assumptions and financial targets.
● Build and maintain robust analyses of volume, price and mix, trade spend, promotional ROI, customer profitability, and channel outlooks, with clear bridges between actuals, budget, forecast, and prior year.
● Deliver clear and timely variance analysis for the Grocery channel versus budget, forecast, and prior year, explaining the impact of volume, price, mix, promotions, trade terms, and customer performance. Highlight risks and opportunities and follow up agreed corrective actions with the relevant business owners.
● Prepare high-quality dashboards and performance materials for monthly business reviews, customer reviews, forecasts, and annual negotiations, presenting concise insights, financial implications, and recommended actions.
● Establish and monitor KPIs tailored to the French FMCG market.
Commercial Negotiation Support
● Negotiation Support: Partner with Key Account Managers throughout all negotiation and price increase cycles with major French Grocery retailers. Prepare financial simulations, assess negotiation scenarios and trade-offs, validate the impact of commercial agreements, and ensure alignment with company profitability objectives and governance.
● Ad Hoc Negotiations: Support commercial teams on customer-specific negotiations arising throughout the year, including changes in pricing, trade terms, promotional conditions, assortment, or exceptional commercial requests. Evaluate the financial impact, define acceptable negotiation boundaries, and provide clear recommendations to protect profitability while supporting customer relationships.
Financial Control & Compliance
● Partner with Accounting and the Finance Manager France during the month-end close to ensure accurate reporting of Net Sales, trade spend, customer accruals, rebates, and provisions for the Grocery channel. Investigate material variances and support the timely resolution of data or accounting issues.
● Strengthen controls, data quality, and governance across pricing, trade terms, promotional spend, rebates, and customer investments. Ensure that commercial commitments are properly documented, approved, reflected in forecasts, and monitored against actual performance.
Systems, Tools & Automation
● Expert use of Excel/ BI tools; strong experience with ERP systems and Planning tools (e.g., SAP, Oracle Hyperion).
● Drive automation, standardization, and self‑service analytics to improve speed, accuracy, and insight quality.
What we are looking for
● Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field.
● Experience: minimum 5–8 years of experience in commercial finance, FP&A, business controlling, or audit, ideally within FMCG or a similarly fast-paced consumer goods environment. Previous exposure to the French Grocery retail market is a strong advantage.
● Technical: Advanced Excel skills and strong proficiency in financial modelling, variance analysis, and KPI development. Experience with Power BI or similar visualization tools and familiarity with ERP and planning systems such as SAP, Oracle, or Hyperion are highly valued.
● Business Acumen: Strong understanding of FMCG and Grocery channel economics, including pricing, trade terms, rebates, promotional effectiveness, volume and mix, customer profitability, and the financial impact of commercial negotiations.
● Soft Skills: Strong analytical thinking, curiosity, attention to detail, and the ability to communicate complex financial topics in a clear and business-oriented way. Comfortable working with commercial teams, constructively challenging assumptions, managing competing priorities, and influencing stakeholders without direct authority.
● Languages: Fluent in French and English.
What we offer
● Hybrid working model
● Flexible working hours
● Ticket Restaurants
● Pension plan
● Fully equipped Gym
● Breakfast and fresh fruit
● Affinity University platform: Professional development opportunities for employees at different stages of their careers, acknowledging diverse career paths.
● Pet-friendly office
● Celebrations & Fun
If you don’t meet all the requirements, don’t worry. We value diverse backgrounds and encourage you to apply anyway. Your application will be thoughtfully reviewed!
We cultivate an inclusive culture that celebrates diversity. We firmly believe that embracing a variety of perspectives is integral to both our company’s success and the strength of our team. That’s why we are committed to providing equal opportunities for all.
Our Company
Affinity Petcare is more than an international petfood company. For more than 60 years, we have been dedicated to nourishing healthy bonds between dogs, cats, and people to make the world a better place.
We are very proud of our innovative brands which include: Ultima, Advance, Brekkies, Nature’s Variety, Nature’s Menu, Natural Trainer, Libra, and more. Currently, we have over 1,200 professionals working for this purpose from Barcelona, Paris, Milan, and London, as well as 4 production sites through which we supply the 70+ countries where our brands have a presence.
So, what are you waiting for? Join our team to leave your footprint!
Want to know more about us?
Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates and job opportunities. You can also follow us on Instagram 👉 @affinitycareers to find out more about life at Affinity and hear stories from our team.
